Yes! So much creamed corn. I also tell people not to donate the kind of macaroni and cheese that requires milk and butter. It's a staple at most food pantries because it's cheap and shelf stable, but I always hated getting it when I was a food bank user. There's nothing worse than going to the food bank, only to get home and discover that unless you can scrape together some cash to buy the rest of the ingredients, you can't eat half of what you got. If you can manage that, you're left with almost an entire quart of milk and 3.5 sticks of butter you have to a) be able to store properly and b) figure out a way to use before it goes bad. Donate the kind that comes with a packet of cheese sauce instead of the powder. It tastes better and reheats without drying out as much, too. Same goes for dry cereal, although less so. Oatmeal, cream of wheat, or grits can be made with water instead of milk and still taste fine.
Also, I can't believe people have to be told this, but if the food is expired or the packaging is no longer intact, you should find something else to donate or just skip it entirely. Not even degenerates want to eat your stale cereal and expired creamed corn.
I also always appreciated getting warm beverage mixes. Tea bags, ground coffee, packets of hot cocoa or cider mix, anything that just requires hot water, it was all a treat. Especially if the pantry serves homeless people, it's nice to have something hot on a cold day when you don't have anywhere to go that's warm.
Many food banks have rules limiting visits to once a month or even less frequently, so if you're going to donate, try to make it stuff that goes further and doesn't require additional ingredients to taste good.
Finally, places that take donations of toiletries and diapers are often in desperate need of adult incontinence supplies. It's not something fun or glamorous to donate and people are frequently too embarrassed to ask, but it's a thing.
...and please, don't give a fondue set to a women's crisis shelter.
